The Ancient
by Sarah-FFVII
Summary: Short story of Ifalna and Aeris's captivity by Shinra. Finished


_"Let her go! Let her go!!"  
  
"Put the specimen in the holding cell. Now!"  
  
"Leave my baby alone!! Stop it! Stop it!!"  
  
"Now, now, Ifalna. Be quiet, and I won't start with the child.."  
  
"NO!! Let Aeris go!!"  
  
It was the sneer, the sadistic twitch of those pale lips, the demonic glaze of his eyes that chilled the marrow of my bones. And he had my baby. My angel. He had killed my one love, one joy, one support. Now he was to take away the only thing I treasured. There was nothing I could do..  
  
"LET US GO!!!"  
  
"Tranquilize her," his reedy voice commanded. The other doctor, one of many, grabbed by arm, bruised from the soldiers' harsh grip. They injected the drug into my system, and I wept, quickly falling into a deep, restless sleep.  
_  
  
I opened my eyes, the brightness hurting them. I would never adapt to this. This cycle of painful 'experiments', and the short hours of torturous sleep. Maybe once a week I could see my darling child, hold her for a moment, then see her taken away again, just so that I could not see her, but hear her every cry and whimper.  
  
***  
  
"You are looking tired today, Ifalna." Hojo noted, his lips twitching as he vainly held back a amused sneer. He traced his bony white finger across her pale face, making her want to cringe, scream, weep, and attack him in another one of her feeble attempts.   
  
But, she knew if she did any of those things, he would slap her with a ferocity one would think he did not have inside of him. Then, he'd call for one of his assistants to bring out 'Specimen 002', her darling, innocent daughter Aeris. Ifalna would not allow him to harm her daughter, so she gave in completely and cooperated for every experiment, no matter how painful or degrading.  
  
Hojo frowned, and she squeezed shut her eyes, awaiting the pain. "..I think that, yes, we will take samples today.. Yes, we shall."  
  
He called for one of his white-clad assistants, who jumped at his every call, whose eyes looked around nervously, who Ifalna knew were as afraid of Hojo as she, or even more. A young girl came forward with a tray containing several sterilized medical instruments. Hojo turned his back for a moment, and Ifalna caught the woman's gaze. Guilt screamed out from her dark green eyes, and Ifalna looked down. He had come back. And with no painkillers. He seemed eager to watch her writhe silently in agony as he experimented.._ As long as your safe, Aeris.._  
  
***  
  
Ifalna slowly opened her eyes, thankful for the overwhelming darkness. Her body roared discomfort, pain, and fatigue. She must have passed out soon after he started his sampling. Hojo only allowed the lights in her cell to stay on when he was sure to take her out to his lab. Ifalna let out a strangled scream into her pillow, having been graced with the luxury by a sympathetic guard.  
  
Hojo himself never came to her cell, it being two floors lower than his lab. He always had two members of Soldier escort her there. They were gentle with her, they knew what he did, and that he had her daughter as well. She thanked her mother Planet in silence prayer for the small blessings she had.  
  
"Aeris.. My angel.. Be safe." Ifalna sat up on her bed, letting her tears flow unceased, muffling her sobs into the pillow. The medical gown she wore gave no warmth, and she was not allowed to have any kind of heating or air conditioning in her cell. Once she had finished her crying jag, she pulled the thin, yellow wool blanket around her body, gathering warmth, and not caring how much it itched.  
  
Ifalna strained to hear the voices, the voices of the Lifestream and the Planet. She heard only the faint whispers, so faint it was almost inaudible. Midgar was not safe any longer. It had become corrupt, and was draining away the spirit energy away. The Planet was beginning to turn its back on the entire city. the sun would no longer shine on it, the plants would not grow, everything would be overcome with eventual death. The people of the city would become more violent, sickness would abound, and evil would lurk behind every corner.  
  
This was what she gathered from the whispers. In her trance, Ifalna did not notice that the lights had turned on until it was too late. Holding back a scream, she waited for the guards to enter her cell and grab her arms, bruising them as they did every day, and dragging her to His lab. _Please, not again.._  
  
The door swung open, revealing the assistant from earlier. Her stark white attire was changed to that of a secretary, and she held in her hands...  
  
"Aeris!" Ifalna jumped up from her bed, surprised at how low she had kept her voice when she had spoken. The woman held up her hand for silence, handing her a bundle and speaking hurriedly.   
  
"Change into those quickly. I will go down the elevator to the first floor, run down the stairs as fast as possible, there aren't any cameras in the stairwell. I will take the child with me. Lots of secretaries leave their kids with Shinra child care during the day. The only reason this is possible is because I'm new here, and because Hojo and almost all of his loyal peons had to leave the city overnight for something important."  
  
Ifalna felt like jumping for joy, but did not have the strength. At the moment, she felt like fainting. The woman saw this, digging through a pocket and pulling out two small vials, one filled with a semi-glowing, red liquid, and the other, a emerald green liquid.  
  
"The red one is a hyper, it'll give you an energy burst. The green one is a potion, it'll heal your wounds and make you able to run down those stairs. Now, we have to go. I'll try to get you out of the city.."  
  
They exited the room, Ifalna's savior directing her to the stairs. Before she left, Ifalna had to speak. "Aeris, my baby, why isn't she moving..?!"  
  
The woman spoke hurriedly, her eyes darted to every corner. "I gave her a tranquilizer, so she wouldn't make noise...," she finally looked back to Ifalna, a smile lighting up her face, "I'm Sera, and I hope you make it out of this hell hole, now, go!!"  
  
With that, Ifalna ran down the stairs full speed, her strength renewed.  
  
  
***  
  
Ifalna came to the last step, breathing heavily. It took her nearly five minutes to get her breathing under control. Opening the door, she nearly toppled another woman down. The victim let out a squeak then smiled.  
  
"Guess I'm not the only one getting exercise today!" She smiled again and began up the stairs.  
  
Ifalna let out a sigh of relief, her eyes searching the room for Sera. Then, she saw her, waiting new the door. Ifalna walked over to her, trying to look as if she belonged there. It had been a good thing to put up her hair. One of the guards, one of the men from Soldier, passed by her. Her heart thumped in her throat.  
  
Sera latched her arm onto Ifalna's, chatting gaily about nonsense, as they fled the building. As the exited it, Sera handed Ifalna's child to her, hurrying her along.  
  
"Aeris, my darling, you're okay.." Ifalna cooed, fiercely hugging her daughter to her breast. She whispered promises to keep her safe always and such..  
  
"..How old is she?" Sera asked timidly, keeping conversation, trying to ward off her own fear, as well as Ifalna's.  
  
"Six months.. He took us from our home when she was almost a month old.." Ifalna whispered, her husband's face flashing up in her mind's eye. She sniffed, but let no tears fall. He had returned to the planet, and he was in the Promised Land. He was happy, and he was waiting for her.  
  
"I can't understand how you took it.. For nearly six months... " she glanced at her, changing the subject, "They, the other assistants, said you were.. An Ancient..?"  
  
Ifalna nodded. "I am. The last full blooded. Aeris carries the blood of my people, but.. her father was a human. Professor David Gast."  
  
Sera inhaled sharply, stopping as they ascended the stairs to the train. Ifalna hadn't noticed that they had gotten that far. Turning to her, Sera questioned with force. "THE Professor Gast?!"  
  
Ifalna nodded once again, a small smile playing on her lips. "He was always so curious about my people... To think, I was once a specimen..," she whispered, shuddering," to then become his wife.."  
  
".."  
  
They boarded the train, waiting for it the reach the end of its track, located in Sector Four. Sera sighed with relief. "Now that we're this far, we'll probably get out.."  
  
The train ride was slow, taking nearly an hour. Ifalna rocked Aeris back and forth, singing in hushed tones to her darling child. Looking up at paper signs after Aeris had fallen asleep, she read one that caught her attention, it read:  
  
Attention all-  
  
Soon, Shinra Inc. will install a new security system for the train. You will be informed once it is successfully installed. At that time, every individual will be required to carry an ID on their person.  
  
-Shinra Inc.  
  
_I know we'll get away, Aeris. We'll go somewhere where we can hear the Planet and her voice..._  
  
  
***  
  
The train came to a halt. After jumping down from the train car, Ifalna stumbled. Sera caught her arm. "You need another hyper and potion.." She checked her billfold, cursing when she saw that she had only enough money to rent the chocobos at a renting stall near the exit.  
  
"We'll go to this church I know of in Sector Five. It's close to the exit. You'll be safe there. I'll get some chocobos and we'll get the hell outta here."  
  
Ifalna swallowed. "Okay.." She felt faint, whatever Hojo had done to her was taking effect once again. she steadied herself on Sera as she lead the way. Passerby's quickened their pace, for some strange reason. Ifalna could not figure out why. They arrived at the church, where Sera departed, promising she'd return in ten minutes.  
  
Ifalna closed her eyes, basking in the serenity and beauty of the church. It smelled of new oak wood and candles. Sunlight streamed in through the stained glass windows. The light, transformed, shone beautifully on some on the dark wooden panels. Aeris began to awaken, and Ifalna held her up to the colors. Aeris gurgled, obviously pleased, and reached her small, baby pink hands towards her mother.  
  
"I'll never let go of you.."  
  
"Oh, but you have to, Ms. Gast. You're coming back with us."  
  
Ifalna jerked around, the blood draining from her face. She knew of the Turks, and what they did. Shaking her head in disbelief, she stood backing up, a dizzy spell hitting her in full force. One of the Turks rushed forward, catching and the baby as she fell to the ground.  
  
Tseng walked over to Ifalna, a syringe in hand. "Hold her arm."  
  
"Yes sir," the other Turk replied.  
  
Ifalna closed her eyes, rage building up in her body. Then, something snapped. Clutching her daughter to her chest, the Turk holding her down jerked and convulsed, as if struck by lightning.  
  
He grabbed his head, screaming bloody murder. Tseng, taken aback, instinctively pulled out his pistol, aiming it at Ifalna's daughter. "Stop whatever the hell you're doing, Ancient, before I kill the kid."  
  
But, it was too late. Tseng's partner, lay on the ground, his body twitching, then it lay still. The Turk lay dead in a puddle of wine colored blood.  
  
The rage flowing through Ifalna ceased and she turned to Tseng. He kept his pistol cocked and aimed and she let out a sorrowful, choking sob. Then, a shot rang out; Ifalna cried out; Tseng turned, blow spouting from his left arm.   
  
His right arm and hand held the gun. And he pulled the trigger on his gun with deadly accuracy. Sera stood a few feet away, a shocked look plastered on her face. Slowly, she fell to the floor, knees first, onto the floor, not getting up.  
  
"..As I stated before, Ms. Gast, you are to return with me to Headquarters."  
  
Ifalna looked down at Sera, watching the blood from her deathblow spread around her body, soaking into the floor. She looked up to Tseng, tears falling freely from her face. And she nodded. "Take me. I can't escape.. Just, don't let him hurt Aeris.."  
  
And she wept.  
  
  
***Epilogue***  
  
  
Ifalna lay on the cold, hard steps, her vision foggy. She was barely able to make out her young, angelic daughter. Aeris hovered over her, screaming in her shrilly voice for someone to help, but, Ifalna knew it was too late.  
Six years of having chemicals pumped in and out of her body, six years of untreated treated wounds from grotesque experiments, six years of pain and depression.. She was to die that day.   
  
She could hear music in the breeze, was there a breeze? Aeris grabbed her mother's hand, crying. Ifalna couldn't let go yet. She had to find something to take of Aeris. Aeris had to stay away from that man. That demon, Hojo. She had to be safe.  
  
"Mommy..!! Don't go away!!"  
  
Ifalna struggled to speak, "I..I'll.. be happy.. in the Promised Land... Here.. Aeris.. Keep it with you.. Always.." Ifalna laid her head against the step, weakly pulling a small green materia orb from a bracelet she was wearing.  
  
Just then, a woman rushed over to them. She exclaimed and began speaking, but, Ifalna couldn't understand. The Planet's words roared in her ears. She spoke to the woman, feeling her spirit energy being drawn from her body.  
  
"Take.. Aeris.. Somewhere.. safe..... ..."  
  
Ifalna laid her head down, her breath leaving her body. Her spirit energy returned to the Planet. Aeris felt its passing, and cried. Ifalna was gone. And she did not weep anymore.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
